Valdi Estate.
A man with hair as wild and golden as a lion’s sat on a throne. His fingers were thick, not from fat, but from a strength that looked built on a farm. Yet, he hadn’t spent a single day toiling away at the land. The calluses, the strength of his tendons, the veins that writhed with their movement on the back of his hand, had all been built wielding a spear.
But today, those fingers were affixed with rings that constricted them, fabrics that slid across them with the soft caress of the wind, and the wood that now rested beneath them, which wafted the scent of lavender with every tap of his nail to its surface.
Duke Valdi wasn’t a man who could be said to be patient, even when it came to matters of his own children. He had seven wives and even more concubines. His list of potential scions could have built a small village on their own.
Patience for failures wasn’t something that he had.
But there was one of those failures that had left the mark of disappointment on his heart.
Usually, when others failed him, he wiped them from his mind and moved on. But Terran was different.
So much potential, so much hope, and yet it was all wasted.
He could have been a High Tier Knight had he applied himself properly. Maybe he could have competed with his elder three brothers for the position of heir in the future as well.
But instead of becoming the fourth pillar of their younger generation, he chose to chase women.
He fell to the scheme of a princess of the imperial line and in his rage, he raped and then killed her.
Duke Valdi was actually quite proud of his son for his action back then. To not allow any slight to rest, that was the way of a Valdi man.
Unfortunately, Duke Valdi’s son was also insufferably idiotic.
After he did the deed, rather than coming to the Duke, or even escaping to bide himself some time, he thought himself clever. He entered the trial too early and before he was prepared.
In the end, he fell short of High Tier Holy Knighthood and became a waste.
Duke Valdi would have pulled some levers for yet another High Tier in the family.
He would not do the same for a Mid Tier. The gap was too large.
Instead, he banished his son and hadn’t thought of him in many months.
What Duke Valdi never expected was to receive news that this son of his had died. Even worse, his original message fell on deaf ears because the Bishop was in seclusion. He then had to send an envoy, only for news of this envoy’s death to likewise come down.
Was this pitiful outer ring city testing his patience? Did they not know who his family was? Did they not know of his power?
But Duke Valdi didn’t act immediately. He wasn’t as rash as his son. Occam’s razor was something even they were aware of.
Was it more plausible to believe that a city so near to their borders could be foolish enough to do this? Or was it that an anomaly of some sort had appeared?
Soon after, Duke Valdi was proven correct.
The death of a Bishop could be either a big matter or a small matter depending on the situation. Most often, it happened due to age. However, near the borders, Bishops dying in battle were far more likely.
When news of the death of the Bishop arrived, most didn’t think much of it. They simply started the application process to select a new Bishop. Since there were no viable priests capable of taking up the mantle, a new one would have to be sent.
Right about now, a lot of pitiful battles were happening in middle ring cities between those who actually wanted the opportunity and those that would rather not.
But that was small stuff to Duke Valdi. When he learned through his own information network that the Bishop who died had come from the same city he sent his son to, yet another piece of the anomaly had been added.
The death of a Mid-tier Knight and a Bishop from the same city? Now that... that was more than just a little peculiar.
If they had known that Calixan made it to the Command Class, the shock would have been even greater.
Yet, that was hardly the end of it at all.
Because just now, Duke Valdi received word that a teleportation transport of the Valdi had just been used. And the ID tag...
Was Frantz’s.
Duke Valdi’s fingers continued to tap at his throne. One curiosity after another was piling up. Who would be so bold to kill his son, likely kill a bishop, and then come to the city of Her Holiness?
Maybe he would have already acted by now under normal circumstances, but just yesterday, Duke Valdi was paying attention to the new Bishop applications just to see if it could give him a clue as to who was targeting his Valdi Dukedom. At this point, he felt that was what had to be happening.
In that pile of applications, though, he found something entirely unexpected.
A name. A single name from a family he had long forgotten.
Giyoto.
What was extremely interesting was that this Giyoto had a Barony in the very same city he had sent his son to. And yet, his application came from another city... almost as though he was trying to obscure the truth.
Now wasn’t that just fascinating?
The scion of a fallen empire was trying to play games with his Dukedom?
What gave him the balls?
The doors to Duke Valdi’s throne room opened and the youngest of the only three heirs he cared about walked in.
"Father."
Apollo took a knee before his father.
"There is something I would like you to do, Apollo. A very interesting character may have entered the city and we are going to rip him up by the roots."